http://themilitant.com/2018/8219/821905.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 82/No. 19 May 14, 2018
(front page)
Thousands march on May Day, demanding,
‘No deportations!’
Socialist Workers Party says: ‘Amnesty now!’
Militant/Clay Dennison
Farmworkers, unionists and others joined May Day action in Yakima,
Washington, May 1.
BY SETH GALINSKY
“We are not criminals, we are the workforce,” said the sign Maria Cuevas
carried at this year’s May 1 International Workers Day march in Yakima,
Washington. Underneath she pasted nearly two dozen photos of immigrant
workers picking crops, driving tractors and at other jobs.
Some 300 people — mostly farmworkers, including a contingent from the
United Farm Workers Union, and workers in food processing plants —
joined the march. Yakima is a major agricultural center in Washington
state.
Similar protests took place across the country, supporting the rights of
immigrants, opposing deportations and demanding protection for those in
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
One of the largest actions this year was a march of 3,000 in Waukesha,
Wisconsin, a city near Milwaukee. Buses bringing protesters converged
there from across the state.
Voces de La Frontera (Border Voices), which organized the action, picked
Waukesha because County Sheriff Eric Severson has signed a 287(g)
agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under this program,
local police are trained and authorized to act as immigration cops. The
program facilitates the deportation of workers stopped by the cops,
including for minor traffic violations.
Voces de la Frontera organized demonstrations of tens of thousands in
2017 against implementation of 287(g) in Milwaukee. Their actions helped
lead to the resignation of notorious Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke and
successfully blocked the program there. According to Channel 7 News,
only two police departments in the Midwest have implemented the program.
‘We need to be treated as equals’
“I came today to fight for the rights of immigrants,” Oscar Basurto,
originally from Mexico City, told the Militant at the Waukesha protest.
“We want to live in freedom. We need driver’s licenses to go to work. We
need to be treated as equals in the labor force.”
Members of the Socialist Workers Party joined the action, and others
across the country, demanding amnesty for all immigrants and an
immediate end to deportations, demands that are central to uniting the
working class.
About 2,000 people marched in Los Angeles. Some had traveled to San
Diego a few days before to welcome a caravan of Central Americans who
traveled to the border to ask for asylum because of fear of gangs and
violence in their home countries. The White House had pointed at the
caravan as a reason to tighten border controls. As of May 2 immigration
officials have allowed 74 to enter the U.S. and request asylum.
There were also May Day marches for immigrant rights in Oakland,
California; Seattle; Chicago; New York; and other cities.
On the eve of the actions, a third federal court ruled to block the
Donald Trump administration from rescinding the DACA program that
protects “Dreamers” from deportation and grants them work permits.
President Trump issued an order Sept. 5, 2017, to phase out the program,
saying he opposed its creation by executive order by then President
Barack Obama. Trump said he wanted Congress to adopt the program.
The president tried to bargain for congressional approval for DACA in
exchange for allocating money to extend the wall at the border. He was
blocked each time by Democratic legislators.
Immigrants under 16 years old who arrived in the U.S. before Jan. 15,
2007, and graduated from high school or who were still studying, are
eligible for relief under DACA. Nearly 700,000 youth have qualified.
U.S. District Judge John Bates gave the administration 90 days to
convince him to change his ruling. Otherwise, he said, not only can the
program not be ended, but the government will have to start accepting
new applicants.
Meanwhile, seven state governments — in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana,
Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia — sued in federal
court to “immediately rescind and cancel all DACA permits,” claiming
they are unlawful.
The propertied U.S. ruling families depend on immigrants, especially
those without U.S. documentation, as a source of superexploited labor.
They seek to use them to push down the wages of all workers, the better
to compete against capitalist rivals around the world and boost profits.
With the current uptick in production and hiring, labor is scarcer, and
the bosses are not looking to reduce the flow of immigrant labor, but to
keep immigrants in a second-class status in hopes they won’t fight for
higher wages and better working conditions.
Combating the scapegoating of immigrants is a key battle to unite the
working class.
Other workers took advantage of the May 1 International Workers Day to
raise their demands. Some 300 nursing home workers, members of 1199SEIU,
and their supporters marched in Trenton, New Jersey, demanding the
bosses be required to hire more workers and increase staffing levels.
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